A Blog from the Woods

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For My Bird-loving Friends

After using a stand-in for birds around my house in the last post, I decided to try and get some images of the real thing. I am discovering that taking pictures of birds in dark corners isn’t easy especially when I leave my camera in the house and only have my phone. There are two birds that have made nests in my upside-down hanging planters. When I went to take down the planters before a big storm with very high winds expected, I discovered eggs in the nests so I quickly put them back on their hooks. I hoped that my interference wouldn’t matter to the mother birds and apparently it didn’t because here they are. Today when I went to the shed, I startled a large bird with two smaller birds that were feasting on insects in the yard. That led me to take a closer look at the nest under the eaves on top of the light fixture. Tried once again to get a decent image but — again — did not want to startle the bird sitting on the nest. I so wanted to share the little black and white birds that have decided to make my home their homes. At least you can see the location if not the birds and nest.

It must be the season for baby animals. Last night leaving the home of my friends Ken and Eileen I was stopped at the bottom of their drive by six deer — clearly two mothers and four fawns. A beautiful sight. On my walk with Sydney the other morning, I spotted a woodchuck. Raccoon families are all over the place as are skunks. Bears are out there but I haven’t seen any this season. Coyotes are around according to people I’ve spoken with. And, of course there are the turkeys that are all over the place any season. All this got me thinking about how much of a city girl I am and how on earth I ended up here. Of course there was plenty of wildlife in and around Tallahassee too. I remember not at all fondly my experience with the very large old possum under my house, the time my friend Lynda’s dog got sprayed by a skunk, a raccoon that died in my yard.

Regardless of whether one “belongs” in the mountains in a wooded area, there is beauty to be appreciated and joy to be taken in watching little birds look for bugs in the grass outside my window as I write this. My friend, Robin, can identify most of these birds I’m sure and might even know what the white flash is that I see every time I try to get a look at the big bird that pecks away at the roof. She gave me Sibley’s Guide to help me learn but I always seem to be too late to get a good enough look. I will continue to take pleasure in sharing the habitat of many woodland critters and will remind myself to be careful while driving around the community. It’s sometimes very good to be so close to the city but close also to nature.